Legislators call for US Treasury sanctions against dealers of looted Syrian antiquities

In an effort to curb a source of income for the jihadist Islamic State group, top US lawmakers have urged the US Treasury Department to craft sanctions against any illegal importation of cultural and historical artifacts stolen from Syria.

In a
letter to Acting US Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and
Financial Intelligence Adam Szubin, four ranking members of the
US House Foreign Affairs Committee -- Reps. Ed Royce, Eliot
Engel, William Keating, and Chris Smith -- said the impetus for
the sanctions is to discourage what has become a funding source
for the so-called Islamic State (IS formerly ISIS/ISIL).

“By adopting these restrictions, the United States would
close our markets to the trafficking in historical artifacts that
helps fund the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the
barbaric terrorist group that continues to occupy large swaths of
Syria and Iraq,” the congressmen wrote.

“To date, our efforts to eliminate ISIL’s sources of funding
have focused primarily on preventing oil smuggling and denying
ransoms demanded for kidnapping. However, a comprehensive effort
must also cover looting and trafficking of cultural property,
which has become a significant source of funding for ISIL and
other terrorist organizations.”

Earlier this month, Rep. Engel introduced
the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act,
which aims to “protect and preserve international cultural
property at risk due to political instability, armed conflict, or
natural or other disasters, and for other purposes.”

In their letter, the representatives called for the US Treasury
Department’s support of UN Security Council Resolution 2199,
adopted in February to prevent the illicit trade of Syrian
cultural artifacts.

The UN resolution stated that the Islamic State and other
militant organizations in the region “are generating income
from engaging directly or indirectly in the looting and smuggling
of cultural heritage items from archaeological sites, museums,
libraries, archives, and other sites in Iraq and Syria, which is
being used to support their recruitment efforts and strengthen
their operational capability to organize and carry out terrorist
attacks.”

In late
February, the Islamic State posted a video online allegedly
showing a group of militants inside a museum in Mosul, Iraq,
using sledgehammers to destroy Assyrian-era statues and other
artifacts, saying they are symbols of idolatry.

“This is a propaganda video that is intended as an act of
heritage terror,” Dr. Stephennie Mulder, an associate
professor of Islamic Art at the University of Texas at Austin,
recently
told RT.

“[ISIS] know this kind of action will cause alarm in the
international community,” said Mulder. “It demonstrates their
mastery over everything. Their mastery over the past and it has a
deep impact on the people of Iraq as well who cherish these
objects.”

It was reported
weeks later that at least some of the statues and artifacts shown
destroyed in the videos were fakes. Mulder told RT that of about
60 artifacts shown demolished in the Islamic State videos, only
six or seven were replicas.